Summary
This paper by Rickman et al., published in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, reviews the available evidence on how fresh, frozen and canned preservation methods affect the nutritional quality of fruit. The review likely finds that freezing can preserve many nutrients comparably to fresh produce, particularly when fresh produce has been stored for extended periods post-harvest, while canning may result in greater losses of heat-sensitive vitamins. The paper makes a notable contribution in challenging assumptions that fresh fruit is categorically superior in nutritional terms to processed alternatives.
UK applicability
The findings are broadly applicable to UK conditions, given that UK consumers and policymakers increasingly rely on frozen and canned fruit as affordable alternatives to fresh produce; the evidence supports dietary guidance that counts frozen and canned fruit toward recommended daily fruit intake.
Key measures
Vitamin C content (mg/100g); folate (µg/100g); carotenoids (µg/100g); mineral concentrations; nutrient retention rates across processing and storage conditions
Outcomes reported
The study compared the nutritional content of fruit across fresh, frozen and canned forms, examining how post-harvest processing and storage affect vitamin and mineral retention. Key nutritional differences between preservation methods were reported, with particular attention to heat-sensitive nutrients such as vitamin C and folate.
Topic tags
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